HAPPINESS IS ABOUT CONNECTION AND GRATITUDE

People complain. They're complaining all the time 
about everything. As a child, I was innocent enough to
believe what people were saying. I really thought there
were plenty of valid reasons to complain: the weather 
(most often), lack of money (runner-up), the neighbours,
husband or wife, the children (me, in this case), 
civilization (or the lack of it), bad health, etc. I assumed 
the world just turned out to be like this and there was 
nothing much we could do. It was called "fate" or something.

The thing to do was to pray. Not to ask for a better life.

No! I learned to pray to ask God to forgive me for my sins.
I was a nice little boy, doing very well at school, polite with 
the neighbours, helpful at home, so it was rather difficult to
keep finding sins for our weekly confession. 

Growing up, I figured something was missing. 
Pretending to be sinful by repeating sins someone 
else had cooked up for me, that could not be what 
life is about. I refused to further confess sins that I 
had not committed. I refused to believe that I was 
the cause of my misery, and that I had to pray every
day without things getting better!

When I was 23 I had a wonderful time, 
with plenty of sunshine and plenty of money; 
circumstances people usually don't complain about, 
right? 

According to my childhood logic, people only complain 
for a reason: lousy weather (too cold, too much rain), 
lack of money, etc. But what I discovered over there 
seriously opened my eyes! My  friends just went 
on complaining: about the weather (too hot), about the
service (5 servants and still they were complaining) or 
about how things were too expensive - while they were 
earning 5 times as much as before!

I discovered there and then that the complaining was
not based on any objective reasons. I also noticed 
that the poor people, who were living in their villages
with close to nothing, were not complaining. I got 
interested in this phenomenon: they had nothing 
except a big smile on their face, while we had everything 
and were still complaining! How could this be?

It became crystal clear to me that the complaints had 
nothing to do with the outer circumstances. It was an 
attitude, a habit. Next, I wanted to find out where this 
habit came from. 

So I examined the way of life of the local people and 
compared it with our way of life. When I finally came
up with the explanation, it changed my life forever!

There are two important differences between them 
and us. The first difference is that they have a social 
network to help everyone in the village. They stick together. 

They don't push out people who don't fit the norm. In our
society, everybody who is a bit different is sent to an 
"institution." An institution is a place to collect those
individuals who cannot follow the fast pace of society 
and thus fall out of the boat. Most institutions have 
great walls to prevent us from "seeing" that these 
people really exist. 

They look more like a prison than a shelter.

Who are these people that don't fit in our society,
put away behind walls so we don't have to confront 
them? They are the disabled, the diseased, the 
dangerous ones, the mentally retarded or disturbed, 
those who are too slow (they go to special schools), 
too difficult to handle (they go to educational institutions) 
and those who are too tired and too old (we put them 
in expensive homes).


I figured out that inner loneliness and isolation is one 
of the main reasons why we are complaining so much.

The second difference is that all of these people are 
connected to something "greater" than themselves. 
They have a strong faith in a god who takes care of 
them. They spend a lot of time performing rituals to 
please their god(s) and get good health and harvest
in return.

I gave these two differences a lot of thought and 
concluded that creating social networks of people 
and a solid relationship with something bigger than
ourselves, are vitally important fundamentals of 
human happiness.

It's all about "connection." Connection to each other. 
Connection to the Universe. In the meantime I found 
out that good things can happen only when we stay 
connected to each other and to the Universe. I started 
studying the Laws of the Universe and spent a lot 
of energy helping people establish a connection to
each other and to the Universe. In fact, this became
the very purpose of my life.

Many people think they are alone, without help, and 
have to do everything by themselves. This is not the 
case. You are guided, you are loved by Something 
Greater than your little personality. Try to feel this 
connection. 

Take time everyday to connect to the Source. 
Create a real connection between yourself, the 
Universe and people around you, without being 
overly dependent on others. You will never feel 
alone again and you will be able to spread a lot 
more love around.

Living this kind of "connected life" will make you 
forget about your former complaints. What's there to
complain about? Your complaints will be replaced by
 gratitude! 

Say "thank you" to the Universe for all the things you
already have, and for all the wonders that may still 
cross your path. Express your sincere gratitude for 
all the love you have received and will keep receiving 
throughout your life. Be grateful for the clean water
coming out of the tap by a simple gesture of your hand,
while many people spend six hours every day to get a 
little bit of water, and others die of thirst.

Be grateful for the light you switch on with a simple 
flick. Large parts of the world have to do without electric 
power! 

Say "thank you" for the variety of food that is available to
you every day - a lot of people have to get by on one 
scarce meal a day, or are simply starving.


It's all in the mind. Gratitude and happiness are an 
attitude, a state of being. It has nothing to do with 
circumstances. 

The attitude is gratitude.=)